Braces Day

August 16, 2013

Yesterday was a big day in the Bennett household. Emma got her braces!

I hope you can see how excited she is about them. Truth be told, I think she’s enjoying all the attention. She likes having All the Things to clean her teeth with. She even brushed her teeth this morning without me asking.

That *could* have something to do with the contract she signed that said if the orthodontist gave her a bad grade on her hygiene for 2 months, she’d have to pay $50 (of her own money) and go into a Oral Hygiene program. Either way, I’m into it.

I couldn’t help get a bit sentimental about the whole shebang.

Yesterday, as we drove as a family (plus a friend) to the office, I was bemoaning how it seemed like just yesterday I was teaching her how to walk and now she was getting braces and starting 5th grade. She promptly rolled her eyes and said Really? Even the tween annoyance was cute at the moment. Aw, see, she’s getting annoyed at me—just like a real tween.

As we were sitting at the foot of her chair watching small little pieces of metal getting glued onto her teeth, I couldn’t help but steal a glance at Scott. I was only 15 when we met, halfway through my own set of braces.

How was it we now had two daughters, one getting braces, the other snapping pictures of her on the iPad? Sure, she’s getting them a lot earlier than me, but still—it was a full-circle moment for me.

I suppose this is a sign of getting older—a bunch of sentiment brought on by a few tiny pieces of metal.